PUPILS enjoyed a whirlwind week of activities to mark the end of term including a Wimbledon tea, Glastonbury-style festival, riverside team-building, circus skills and sports day.
Barnard Castle Preparatory School celebrated the end of a challenging year, making up for lost ground, as Reception class to Year 6 tried to recreate some of the enrichment activities of a normal term.
Headmistress Laura Turner said: “We were only too aware of all the normal activities we would enjoy throughout the year, including trips to France, London, Edinburgh and Robinwood Activity Centre in Lancashire, having to be cancelled because of the pandemic. So we were determined to recreate as many as we could as best as we could given the constraints of COVID.
“Children, staff and parents handled the pandemic with fortitude, engaging excellently with the home learning programme and coping with the year group bubbles once they returned to school. Celebrating in this diverse manner seemed an appropriate way to end an exceptional year.”
Pupils transformed the school into a corner of France, complete with a Tour de Barney, before heading off to ‘London’ for a Wimbledon-style afternoon strawberry tea and tennis and cricket.
Circus performers put on a memorable show for the whole school before breaking into workshops for pupils to learn new skills.
Huge inflatable obstacle courses also became the centre of a fun day, complete with barbecue, followed by arts and crafts sessions.
Year 6 leavers got to write messages on each other’s t-shirts as well as taking part in team-building exercises and a riverside walk and picnic. They were invited to Glastonbarney, an evening of fun, food and live music with a festival flavour.
On their final day at Prep School, before moving up to Senior School in September, they attended a valedictory service and prizegiving.
Term came to an end after a competitive day of track and field events with all year groups taking part in a host of running competitions, long, high and static jumping contests and ball throwing, with Grenville House taking the Queen’s Cup for the best points tally.